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Chapter Fourteen
Holly'sentire body seemed to shake as she paced back and forth in front of the row of chairs. All of her muscles were wound tight, and her impatience grew with each passing moment.
The ambulance had rushed her mother to the hospital. She and Cara had followed right behind with Paul and Jason in tow. Now, the four of them were stuck in the waiting room, hoping the doctor would come to pay them a visit sooner rather than later.
Her mother had been conscious when the ambulance had driven her away, so that had to be a good sign. Maybe she had just gotten overheated or something with a similar fix. Maybe she had been dehydrated. Holly could make sure her mother drank more water every day if needed.
The guys sat in the hard plastic chairs, somehow not nervous wrecks. Cara was pacing along with her, though, so at least Holly wasn't the only one ready to have a nervous breakdown at any moment.
The entire time, Holly kept thinking about how different things might have been if she hadn't stayed away for so long. Even if she had just come back more often after her father had died, maybe she could've stopped this before it had really gotten started.
There was no way for her to deny the fault landed squarely on her shoulders. She was the oldest child. It had been her responsibility to make sure her mother was okay, and she had completely dropped the ball on that duty.
God, how was she ever supposed to live with herself after this? Just stopping by for a couple of weeks to spruce up the inn wasn't going to be enough. She had to do more. She had to figure out some way to make sure her mother was taken care of and the inn didn't start deteriorating the moment she left.
Her phone rang as she paced up and down the row of seats. A quick glance at it showed her daughter's picture, and Holly sent the call to voicemail. With everything going on, she couldn't talk to her right then.
If she did, Holly wasn't sure she would be able to contain herself. And while she had no doubt she would have a breakdown sooner or later to get her emotions out, the middle of a hospital waiting room wasn't the place for it. She had to keep herself together at least until she knew her mother was okay.
She could do that much, couldn't she?
Gabby called a few more times while Holly waited for the doctor, but she ignored each call. Every time she saw her daughter's face, a pang of guilt stabbed her right in the heart. Part of her felt guilty about not answering the calls, but with her mind racing and the panic really starting to set in, Holly doubted she could focus on anything Gabby said. And that was assuming she didn't have a breakdown.
Holly would call her back, she promised silently. Once everything was squared away, she would make time for whatever it was her daughter needed. But, until then, she had to devote what little attention span she had left to her mother.
When the doctor finally appeared in the doorway of the waiting room, Holly almost collapsed with relief. She rushed over to him, eager to find out what his diagnosis was, praying she would be able to take her mother home.
"Your mother is extremely fatigued," the doctor said, jumping right in and not mincing his words. "She hasn't been eating properly. Her weight is down considerably, she's been dehydrated for a while at least, and if something doesn't change soon, she's liable to have a stroke or worse."
Holly's mouth went dry as she listened to everything the doctor said. Deep down, she had known all of this already. She'd known it the moment she had laid eyes on Nelly that first day back at the inn. But she hadn't realized how bad things had gotten.
"She's also extremely depressed," the doctor continued. "Which would explain a lot of the problems. I'm going to write her a prescription for some medication, but she's going to need to see a doctor regularly to maintain it. And I want to keep her for at least a night or two, just to make sure she's stable. Keep her on IV fluids and eating to rebuild her strength. Then, she should be fine to go home, provided she makes the necessary changes to her diet."
Holly nodded. It sounded like it was going to take more than just sprucing up the inn and getting it back on track for her mother to see any improvement. She was going to need a lot of rest and someone to keep an eye on her.
"How long do you think it'll be before she's one hundred percent again?" Holly found herself asking, needing to know upfront. She couldn't keep her head buried in the sand anymore. Whatever problems were going on, she needed them out in the open. She needed to face them head-on.
The doctor paused and frowned, thinking the question over. He looked at the clipboard he carried, flipping through a few pages, no doubt reviewing Nelly's chart. "Other than the severe fatigue caused by the depression, she's in pretty good health. A month or two of taking it easy, eating and drinking like she needs to, and she should be on her way to a full recovery. And if she really takes this seriously, there shouldn't be any lasting side effects, either."
Again, Holly nodded. A month or two, at least. And that was just to get her on the road to recovery and out of the danger zone. It was going to take longer for her to fully get back to her old self.
And there was no way she would be able to run the inn and take it easy at the same time. That meant someone else would have to step in and take over the full-time operation of the place, even if it was only temporarily.
After the doctor left, Holly gave her cousins the news. They all relaxed a bit, but Holly could see the concern in their eyes, alongside the guilt. They had been here, they had seen the state the inn had been in and knew Holly's mom hadn't looked great, and none of them had done anything about it until it was too late.
Holly didn't blame them, though. There was only one person she blamed, and that was herself. She had purposely cut herself off from her family and everyone else in the Keys, trying to chase an unsustainable lifestyle in Miami.
It wasn't their fault the inn had fallen apart. Sure, they were Archers, but they were only related to her mother through the marriage to her father. Nelly wasn't their responsibility. They had their own issues to deal with, their own families to focus on.
This issue was Holly's, and the blame rested squarely on her shoulders.
Sitting around, feeling guilty, wasn't going to solve anything. As Jason drove her back to the inn, Holly made up her mind once and for all. If someone had to take over the inn and care for her mother, it needed to be her.
This was her responsibility. And now that there wasn't much left for her in Miami, there wasn't any reason for her not to stay here. Whether it took two months, six months, or a year, Holly was going to make sure everything was right, one way or another.
Jason looked at her with surprise when she told him her decision. Then, he smirked and nodded. "Well, everyone else may have given up hope of you ever returning, but I always knew the truth. You couldn't stay away from this place forever. You are an Archer, after all."
